Alida Fernhout is quite an adventurous young woman from Alberta, who is eager to learn about community development and disaster relief. This past summer she traveled to Indonesia with a CRWRC Service and Learning team. Last year she ventured to Nigeria with a World Mission’s team, enabling her to use her nursing skills at the MKAR hospital. This fall she is going there again. And yet, she feels that she’s….
Just a girl…
I received an email several months ago from the ServiceLink office. They were sending teams to assist CRWRC in Indonesia in rebuilding homes in the area hard hit by the tsunami. What a fantastic opportunity! Learning about disaster relief, redevelopment, and all I had to do was help build a few houses. But…
I am just a girl from Canada with very few building skills. I once built a bench, but with the latest power tools. I have never laid bricks, measured perimeters for house foundations, and barely know how to mix cement.
I am just a girl from Canada who loves adventure, the unknown, spontaneous travels, and according to my father, talking. So what can a chatty, Canadian girl offer homeless Indonesians?
My gift of gab and love of learning languages enabled me to build important relationships with the local people. My most treasured moments in Indonesia were spent with my "Ibu" Nuriah. Ibu is the formal word for mother in Indonesian, and one always addresses those older than they as Ibu as a sign of respect. For three weeks, Ibu Nuriah and I ate meals together, shared jokes, and lay on the cement floor under the sometimes-functioning fan to cool off. I sat with Ibu Nuriah and my phrase book each evening, learning new words, having lengthy conversations one word at a time. One evening, she took me by the hand, sat me on the floor with her "tsunami" calendar, and told me how she lost three children and seven grandchildren to the awful "cobra waves." She was spared because she was on higher ground in Banda Aceh. Another evening, when I was ill with sunburn and mild heatstroke, she made me sweet tea, and lay on the floor beside me, fanning my hot skin and worrying like my own mother would. And so our relationship was built, through shared words, laughter, and smiles.
The night before we were to leave the village, Ibu Nuriah gave me a letter addressed to my parents. In it she wrote that she cared for me like I was her own child, and that she was now my "mama" Indonesia. I was touched that this tiny woman I had met only three weeks ago had not only allowed me into her home and her life, but she was inviting me into her family! On that last morning in the village, as I bid farewell to my new Mama, I knew that despite being a very inexperienced construction worker, I had built something more important and unbreakable. I had built a friendship that not even a tsunami can destroy.
More thoughts from Alida……
I grew up in the CRC church, so I have always "known about" CRWM and CRWRC, but was not exactly sure how they worked or how they were perceived by those outside the CRC church. We were told that CRWRC/GenAssist had a good reputation in Indonesia, and the local people seemed to want them to work in the villages. But a lunchtime meeting really demonstrated the excellent work that CRWRC does not only in Indonesia, but around the world.
Matt, Laura, and I were sipping coffee on the front porch of the GenAssist office in Lhoong during a lunch break when a well-dressed gentleman drove up in a truck. He introduced himself as a Relief Specialist from Bangladesh. He had been hired by the Indonesian government to offer consultation. He had noticed CRWRC/GenAssist signs dotting the roadsides in the area as he was surveying development. When he saw the main office, he felt compelled to stop and greet us. He told us that CRWRC is well known in Bangladesh for their excellent development work, their transparency and zero tolerance for corruption. He made a point of telling us that he was Muslim and he knew that CRWRC was a Christian organization, but was very pleased to see them working in the area and encouraged us to keep up the good work.
It was such a blessing (and a God moment!) to hear from a total stranger from Bangladesh, that CRWRC has a stellar reputation for honesty and success. I felt very proud to be part of the GenAssist team!
Back to Stories
